A Simple Syrup Cheat Sheet

Sweetness. It’s one of our four main tastes (yes, five if you count umami), and it’s a key component to any good drink, helping balance acid, bitterness and even booze. But have you ever tried to add sugar by the spoonful to a glass of iced coffee or a squeeze of honey directly into a cocktail shaker? Not so easy. To maximize mixing potential, sweeteners ideally need to be dissolved into syrup form, and from there, the flavoring options are endless. Need a basic simple syrup to mix up a Mint Julep? Want to spice up a soda with a little cardamom or clove? From simple-syrup basics to formulas flavored with fruits, nuts and spices, we’re sweetening our glasses with these 50 favorite syrup recipes.

THE BASICS

Simple Syrup
This sweetener lives up to its name—it’s equal parts granulated sugar and water heated simply until the sugar crystals dissolve. You can even skip the heating step and shake sugar and water vigorously in a jar. Try it in cocktails like the Mint Julep or Monkey Gland or to sweeten iced coffee or tea.

Honey Syrup
Combine honey with ice and you get a clumpy mess in the mixing tin, but thin the honey out with hot water and you get this sultry syrup. Try it in an Airmail or the Tequila-Sage Smash.

Agave Syrup
Don’t confuse agave nectar with agave syrup—the nectar is the agave-based sweetener in its concentrated, right-from-the-bottle form, while the syrup dilutes the nectar into this cocktail-friendly mixer. Try it in the Trinidadian Punch or this Watermelon-Cucumber Margarita.

Almond Syrup (see Orgeat)
In syrup form, almonds add a nutty, lactic-like sweetness to cocktails. Add a splash of orange flower water to the syrup and it becomes orgeat—a must in classics like the Mai Tai and the Japanese Cocktail.

Apricot Syrup
Fresh or dried, apricots add subtle stone-fruit flavor to cocktails like the Armenian Apple, or try it splashed into a glass of iced tea.

Dijon Syrup
While it may sound better suited to a brat than a cocktail beaker, this mustard- and sweet paprika-infused syrup adds an unexpected layer of complexity to corn whiskey cocktails like the Joe Buck.

Donn’s Mix Syrup
Who’s Donn? Only one of the most important figures of tropical cocktail culture, and the man behind this syrup that’s requisite in a Zombie.

Fernet-Branca Syrup
We love Fernet-Branca in any form, and this syrup simmers down its rooty goodness into a flavoring for cocktails like the Blue Jay.

Fig Syrup
Get figgy with this syrup that’s perfect drizzling over ice cream and mixed into cocktails like the Figgy Pudding.